In the Problem Pit

by Frederik Pohl

What will happen to us?

When can we replace ourselves with unfailing machines just like us?

When can we experience the ultimate ecstasy from a little pill?

When can we trip back in time to “correct” the errors of history?

When all our problems are solved—except the deadly ones we never thought of?

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Collections, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

193 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Frederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.

Reviews

[Craig]

After a very long association with Ballantine Books, this collection of his short fiction appeared from Bantam, where Pohl had begun working as an editor. It's a nice mix of his newer work which had never before been collected, and several of the best of his older pieces which had appeared in Ballantine volumes. The title story first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction's special Frederik Pohl issue, The Schematic Man came from Playboy, I Remember a Winter was originally printed in Damon Knight's Orbit anthology series, Let the Ants Try came from a 1949 issue of Planet Stories.... Pohl was a very far-ranging writer! Most of the stories here are idea-based rather than character-driven, but they demonstrate him at the top of his craft in the short form. Among my favorites are The Man Who Ate the World and What to Do Until the Analyst Comes, but they're all worth a read.

[Simon Mcleish]

Partly stories, partly reminiscences. Interesting mainly for those who want to hear about early science fiction fandom. I found the lengthy title story about problem solving rather tedious.

[Ana]

Short stories, some better than others. Useful when I felt like reading something quickly.

[Kevin McDonagh]

It's a shame to boil any reading to stars. The world of attitudes, genders and habits of these stories are so reminicent of the era within which they were published. There's something in Pohl's writing which feels like perusing 1950s pulp sci-fi news stands. This is a warm collection of stories, essays and comments from Pohl reflecting on his golden years in sci-fi, often through what never got published. Who wouldn't be curious of the bottom Pohl's filing cabinet?

[Matt]

I read this in the Mammoth Book of Fantastic Science Fiction. It's only barely science fiction, so it probably didn't belong in the book, but whatever. It is also not fantastic, so again, it probably didn't belong. It was... meh...? I guess...? Insofar as there was a "main story," its climax was that the fat girl was sad she didn't get laid, but then decided to not commit suicide because the black girl who did get laid has a terminal illness and will die soon, all told from the point of view of a druggy-artist. The "big idea" the story explores amounts to, "think of all the problems we could fix if we replaced the draft with obligatory participation in non-specialist think tanks!" Which is kind of interesting--minus the "obligatory" part. Unless the point was the particular problem solutions he imagines resulting from this "problem pit" process, in which case they mostly just seemed silly or underwhelming.

[Michael Montgomery]

In the Problem Pit, by Fredrick Pohl, is a little remembered book nowadays. I bought it in a used bookstore in kind of bad condition, and a week later I saw another used copy in much better condition that we got for free. But anyway... It is a great read for any science fiction lover. The short stories in it range from therapeutic caves to the history of sci-fi, all of which are interesting. I am a huge fan of Ray Bradbury's short story collections, and In the Problem Pit reminded me of that. It made me think. Overall, a great read! But don't listen to the "All wars are over, All hunger is at an end" stuff on the covers. There isn't a story in there that has to do with that. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[Raj]

This is a collection of short stories a couple of essays by one of the classic writers of the 50s and 60s. I've not really read much Pohl before and I had hoped that this collection would give me a feel for his work. However, I found that while I enjoyed the stories and it was good SF, it perhaps didn't have a huge amount of 'character'. When you read a Gaiman, Asimov or Clarke story, you know you've read a story by one of those authors but this felt rather, um, generic.

Read it for good SF but not necessarily to get an idea of Pohl as a writer.

[SciFiOne]

1981 grade D